Activists and grassroots leaders held a press conference on 21 October to highlight persistent problems in half a dozen areas ahead of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process in Geneva, a United Nations process that examines the human rights records of member states every four years.
The press conference was organised by Manushya, a Bangkok-based NGO that aims to empower local communities, women human rights defenders, Indigenous peoples and LGBTIQ+ groups across Southeast Asia, and the Thai CSO Coalition for the UPR and UN Mechanism. 101 Media was the media partner.
The issues ranged from the rights of migrant workers, asylum seekers, LGBTQ+ people, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities and older people to other human rights concerns.
Here are the main issues raised.
Thai-Malay Muslim rights in the Deep South
Abdulloh Ngoh, of the Justice for Peace and Development Network, or JASAD, and the PATANI Working Group for Monitoring on International Mechanisms, said Thai-Malay Muslims in the Deep South continue to face discrimination by the state when they seek to express their Malay identity. Abdulloh, who suffered recurring panic attacks and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as a result of detention, said there had been 53 extrajudicial killings between 2004 and 2026 and that 34 people had been forcibly disappeared. “We call for the monitoring of torture,” Abdulloh said, adding that the same period saw 640 cases of torture.
He added that any peace talks should involve locals.
Transnational repression
Tanruthai Thanrut, a political activist with the Manushya Foundation who supports refugees affected by transnational repression, called for a review of a recent amendment proposed by Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul that would make it easier to deport foreigners. “This law infringes on human rights. If you’re human, please keep a close watch on the issue.”
Workers’ rights
Wattana Sunsa, a trade unionist with the Thai Metal Products YMP Labour Union, said there were only 14,000 unions in Thailand and that less than 3 percent of the workforce was unionised. He added that migrant workers from other countries could not fully access welfare benefits or exercise their rights.
Free Trade Agreements
Chalermsak Kittitrakul of FTA Watch said concerns about the proposed Thailand-EU free trade agreement, which is likely to be signed by the end of the year, include farmers’ rights to seeds, the impact on generic medicines and medicine prices. He added that the public had no opportunity to participate in the process. More worrying, he said, is the so-called Thailand-US Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART), for which the Thai government has classified all the information.
Prokchol Ousap of Bio Thai, an NGO working on seed rights, added that durian and other local fruits could be affected by the Thailand-EU FTA because farmers might lose the right to save and propagate seeds, which could instead be licensed to large agribusinesses.
Indigenous rights
Naowwanit Chaemphit, a member of the Moken Indigenous sea peoples community on Koh Lao island in Ranong province, said the government had yet to fully compensate the community for the effects of the 2004 tsunami. Many, she said, had no ID card, which restricted their mobility and left them vulnerable to labour exploitation. The community also lacked access to electricity and drinking water.
“If the situation continues, we would become extinct in less than 20 years from now,” she said.
Pasuta Chuenkhachorn, a policy advocacy officer at TamTang, which works to advance access to safe abortion and LGBTQ+ rights, said discrimination continued. A survey found that 49 percent of intersex people continued to face discrimination at work, in public hospitals and at school.
“We are not goods. We’re not marketing tools [for Pride-related tourism]. We want to have human rights as all humans deserve.”
Civil liberty
Vorapat Veerapattanakup of the Union for Civil Liberty (UCL), which works to defend human rights, said many of Thailand’s 2.25 million people with disabilities faced discrimination in employment, as well as verbal and physical abuse.
As for elderly people, 1.8 million elderly Thais live alone and without sufficient pensions. Of the roughly 500,000 people living with HIV, access to medicine is not universal. Schools also fail to provide adequate education about HIV prevention and about living and working with people with HIV. Some companies require job applicants to take HIV tests and reject those who test positive, despite government guidance against the practice.
Meanwhile, he said that Thai prison system is overcrowded as the number of prisoners reached over 300,000 for the first time in history this year.
Land rights
Nattaporn Artharn, an environmental activist from northeastern Thailand with the Isan Democracy Movement, or IDM, said 480,000 people were being prosecuted as the government continued a policy of expanding forested areas by evicting people who live in community forests. She said the policy began under Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.
Will the UPR matter?
Thailand’s UPR will take place on 9 November in Geneva, Switzerland. Accredited civil society groups will tell the UN review where they believe Thailand is falling short, including on the issues outlined above. Thai government representatives will then have an opportunity to respond.
I asked Emilie Palamy Pradichit, founder and executive director of the Manushya Foundation, who will be in Geneva, what she expected from the review.
“The UPR risks becoming another ritual if Thailand repeats promises in Geneva while communities facing violations remain excluded. Whose voices count is a feminist question of power, dignity and justice. Thailand’s human rights story must be shaped by grassroots communities beyond Bangkok, with the power to define problems, demand solutions and judge progress.
“We expect more because communities are demanding more: protection from transnational repression; respect for Patani’s right to self-determination and an end to abuses under emergency powers; freedom from prosecution for peaceful dissent, including under Section 112; and protection of Indigenous and rural communities’ lands and livelihoods.”
She added that diplomats from the reviewing states must turn these demands into measurable recommendations and that Thailand must deliver reforms with clear timelines, resources and community oversight. “The test is whether women and marginalised communities gain real power and live safer, freer lives. This is the Manushya way: human rights rooted in people’s power, solidarity and justice.”